Sullivan Bay Portage

The Sullivan Bay Portage is a short but historically evocative land crossing in Voyageurs National Park, tracing a route used for centuries by Ojibwe people and later by French-Canadian fur trade voyageurs—the coureurs de bois and engagés who paddled bark canoes laden with beaver pelts across the waterways of the Canadian Shield from the late 17th through early 19th centuries. Portages like this one were essential links in the trade network, allowing canoe brigades to bypass shallow connecting sections or avoid difficult rapids between major lakes. The flat, half-mile path crosses a low land bridge connecting two sections of the Kabetogama Lake system, passing through characteristic boreal forest with a thick understory of Labrador tea, leatherleaf, and bog rosemary. Interpretive signs along the route describe the voyageur way of life—the grueling 16-hour paddling days, the songs sung to maintain rhythm, and the portage tradition in which each man was expected to carry two 90-pound packs in a single carry. The portage is best accessed by canoe or kayak from Sullivan Bay, making it a natural complement to a paddling day on Kabetogama Lake. Small painted turtles are commonly seen basking on logs along the adjacent wetland margins.